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Katherine was interviewed by Vicky Papageorgiou from the IATEFL Publications Committee

Hello Katherine and thank you so much for agreeing to this interview.

Hi Vicky. Thank you for inviting me.

Tell us a little bit about yourself, Katherine.

Well, I have been around for a while. I’m originally from Wales but I moved to Spain when I started working as an English teacher in 1987. I’ve lived here ever since. These days I live in a rural area in the north of the country. There are only nine inhabitants in our village so it’s very quiet and peaceful.

In terms of my professional life, I started out teaching private classes. Later, I got a teaching job in a school. After a few years I started teacher training, then writing professionally. These days I mainly work as a writer, but I continue to do teacher training and teaching now and then.

Could you describe your typical week ?

The good thing about being a freelance writer is that I can decide how to organize my time. That means there’s no such thing as a typical week. Right now, I’m in the middle of running a ‘Writing ELT materials’ course with my business partner, John Hughes, so I have to build in time for that.

Most weeks are a combination of two kinds of work: actual writing and the peripheral work that goes with it, such as meetings or reading through briefs from publishers. I’m usually doing other things too. This week I’m writing an article for a teaching journal and I’m planning a workshop for a convention in March.

It isn’t all work though. I’m increasingly aware of the importance of self-care. I start every day with a walk and I swim every day. I take plenty of breaks away, short ones where I pop outdoors for a breath of fresh air or longer ones when I might read, do some chores or watch TV.

How do you progress from a teacher to a materials writer?

There isn’t just one pathway. I was given the opportunity to write a primary coursebook when a commissioning editor attended a workshop I gave at a TESOL Spain convention. This first writing experience was very positive and I decided I’d like to move into writing full time, so I approached another publisher. The coursebooks became a kind of CV. If you’ve written something for a publisher, you’ve proven you can do the essentials – not only write, but follow a brief, keep to a schedule, work with an editor and respond well to feedback.

Anyone wishing to become a materials writer needs to get their work seen. Presenting at a conference, giving a webinar, sharing ideas through a blog are all good ways for publishers to find you. It also helps to show what your specialism is. If you know a lot about phonics, for example, make sure everyone knows.

What are the essential skills needed to get into materials writing?

I think we can divide skills into different areas.

First, there are the skills you gain through teaching, for example, knowing how long an activity might take.

Then there are skills related to the writing process and the principles of writing. These include things like knowing how to design a sequence of exercises that flow well and achieve the key objectives.

There are also skills which are specific to different contexts, such as self-study resources for Business English students or materials delivered via an app.

Finally, if you want to work for a publisher, you’ll need to consider skills of teamworking and collaboration, as well as  time management and responding well to feedback.

Please comment on the following “Designing appropriate materials is not a science: it is a strange mixture of imagination, insight and analytical reasoning.”

Oh! I wondered who said that. It’s lovely. I see that it was written by Graham Low, University of York. It’s cited quite frequently. I’m not surprised as it’s spot on. I would maybe adapt it and say, “Designing appropriate materials is not a science: it is a mixture of creativity, insight, analytical reasoning and hard work.” Creativity is key. We can all make materials that are mediocre but what the best ones have in common is a spark of imagination, something that engages the learners and perhaps prompts an emotional response.

What are your golden rules about materials writing you would like to share with new colleagues?

I’ll try and keep it to three.

(1) Keep things as simple as possible, from the wording of an instruction to the design of a page, and everything in between. Simplicity is everything.

(2) Always keep the end-users in mind while writing. This means the students as a group and as individuals, and also the teachers who might be using the materials.

(3) Respect copyright laws. We should behave impeccably in this respect so that students have good models to follow.

Would you like to share your plans for the future?

I love my work but ultimately, I’d like to work less and relax more. One of the downsides of being a freelance writer is that it isn’t easy to plan big chunks of time off. But that’s something I’m working on, especially longer term. Ideally, I’d like to work three months on and three months off. That would be perfect.

In this line of work, you never quite know what’s around the corner. I’ve just signed a contract to write a series of graded readers so that’s quite exciting and will keep me busy for the near future. There will be other projects too, but I have no idea what.

John and I have lots of plans bubbling away too – courses to run, talks and workshops at conferences, and books to self-publish. No peace for the wicked, as they say.

About Katherine

Katherine Bilsborough is a freelance ELT author and trainer. She is passionate about training teachers how to develop the skills they need to write their own classroom materials and has recently set up Writing ELT Materials Ltd. with her business partner and colleague, John Hughes.

 http://www.writingeltmaterials.com/

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All teachers write materials for their learners at some point. Sometimes, we are prompted by an interesting article we come across in the newspaper which makes us think: ‘That would be useful for my Business English class’. Other times, we realise a class needs more practice with some specific language and none of the resources to hand seems quite right. Whatever the reason and whatever the materials, it’s a good idea to keep a few things in mind so that the results can be optimum. Below are ten tips for writing materials:

1. Have a clear idea of why you are writing the materials

Are they to replace something you aren’t happy with? Are they to supplement something in the course book? Re-inventing the wheel is pointless but tailoring materials to suit your very specific context and needs is very useful.

2. Copy the things you like in published materials – not the actual content but the way they do things

Look at things like how much text is on a page, how an instruction is phrased or how one activity leads seamlessly into the next. Then do something similar. After all, the publisher is doing it this way for a reason, probably after a lot of input from teachers and other specialists.

3. Start at the end and work backwards. Ask yourself what you’d like your learners to be able to do because of using the materials.

Consider your aims and objectives. Then think about the stages that might be useful to reach that point.

4. Keep the end-users in mind at every stage of the process.

Think about your learners as a whole group, their interests, likes and dislikes. But also, think about them as individual learners with their differences and their unique needs. Keep asking yourself questions like Will they find this engaging? Is there anything in this (text) which might upset someone?

5. Always ask someone else to proofread what you’ve written.

No matter how good you are at writing materials, you’ll inevitably make errors. Typos are common and sometimes we think we know how to spell a word but in fact, we don’t. A second pair of eyes is invaluable.

6. If possible, pilot the materials and ask for feedback.

You can provide a checklist of things you’d like comments on, in the same way a teacher gets feedback after a classroom observation. If you can’t pilot the materials yourself, reach out to another teacher who might be happy to do the task.

7. When you finish writing your materials, look through them and think about the variety of activities.

Have you given learners opportunities for sharing information and ideas, for practising what they’ve learnt, for recycling language, for personalising a topic? Have you included different interaction types? You won’t be able to do everything every time, but variety is good for several reasons.

8. Make sure you have permission to use any content you include in your materials.

This might be a text, an image, an audio, or a video. Check who owns the copyright and what the Creative Commons license means. Always cite the source or attribute the artist, photographer, etc. There are obvious reasons for this but ultimately, as a teacher, you are a model for your learners. If they see you using anything from the internet without thinking, they might think it’s OK for them to do the same.

9. Keep things as simple as possible.

This is true for every aspect of the materials, the content, the page design, the instructions. It’s a good idea to show your materials to another teacher or even someone who isn’t a teacher, perhaps a student. If they can’t fully understand what needs to be done, you’ve probably made something unnecessarily complicated.

10. Enjoy the process!

Writing materials is an opportunity to be creative and can be very enjoyable. It’s also a great way to develop as a teacher. As we craft materials for our learners, we focus on their needs, we think about teaching methodologies and what supports or hinders learning.

About Katherine

 

Katherine Bilsborough is a freelance ELT author and trainer. She is passionate about training teachers how to develop the skills they need to write their own classroom materials and has recently set up Writing ELT Materials Ltd. with her business partner and colleague, John Hughes.

Contribute to the blog

If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?

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An interview with Caroline Hyde-Simon by Vicky Papageorgiou

First of all, I would like to thank you for agreeing to give this interview and I would also like to welcome you! For people who might not know you, you are the coordinator of IATEFL’s ESPSIG. Can you please share some details about your professional background?

I work as Lecturer in English at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland, a position I have held since 2012. My main work is in the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management, where I teach with a specific focus on EAP and ESP.

EAP has developed significantly as a field over the past few years and now it seems it will change even more. How do you feel AI will affect EAP overall?

I think the question of AI is one that is at the forefront of everyone’s minds at the moment working in the field of education. The question really should be considered from two perspectives: positive impacts, and challenges and ethical concerns. Many aspects of the more positive perspective have the potential to affect all areas of the learning process, e.g. personalised learning, assessment, language resources, accessibility, and even content creation. The one area I feel is more specific to EAP is that of Academic writing assistance, particularly the availability of feedback on cohesion, clarity and coherence, three absolutely crucial elements of
the academic writing process. On the other hand, students often now will rely on AI to produce an academic piece of work, and then will be uncertain, or not bother to check, on the quality of the content produced. As we all know, the writer needs a deep awareness of what the output should look like, and the danger of over-reliance on AI is that this step will become lost. The danger of a lack of critical thinking skills is thus a very real one, and I therefore believe that EAP/ESP courses should henceforth focus more on the process of producing a piece of academic work, rather than assessing the final output.

Regarding the SIG, what are the challenges you have faced since you were appointed to this position? How did you manage to overcome them?

One of the main challenges I have come across is being in a position of having to manage both a group of people and a great many tasks without being seen in a superior position, which of course is not the case as coordinator of a SIG. I think it is often the case that committee members look to you as the person having all the answers, which again is not (always) true, and, at least for me, I have found the need to turn to head office for advice often. Another challenge is having to be involved in, and try to resolve, conflict, particularly when your own background is not one which includes a managerial role.

How do you see the SIG in the future? What are your short-/long-term goals?

We now have a new position on our committee, that of Outreach Officer. Our goal in this regard is to access the four corners of the Earth, in particular those in which we have not had, to date, as many contacts and members as we could have. Additionally, following the pandemic, we are starting to arrange face-to-face conferences once again, as we feel our members benefit greatly from the networking and professional exchange opportunities these afford. In fact, we are in the process of working on 2 upcoming face-to-face events, so watch this space… On a more short-term basis, we are always looking to gain more members for
our SIG, as well as committed committee members, so please do get in touch if you would like to join us!

If you could start as IATEFL ESPSIG’s coordinator over again, what would you do differently?

I would assert myself to a greater extent, albeit gently, right from the beginning, and trust that I am acting in the best interests of the SIG and the committee members as well as, of course, our members. Further, time allowing of course: I would try and invest more time in team building activities and developing strategies for conflict resolution as a group. Finally, particularly important when working with people with different cultural backgrounds, I believe, is the necessity to establish a culture of regular feedback, providing constructive feedback to team members and being open to receiving feedback as well. Continuous improvement is essential.

Thank you so much for your time, Caroline!

About Caroline

Caroline has been teaching EAP/ESP at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Zurich, Switzerland, since completing her PhD in Applied Linguistics Research Methodology in 2012. She started in the School of Engineering and has since moved to the School of Life Sciences and Facility Management where she teaches primarily students studying for their bachelor’s degree. Her current research interests include blended learning in ESP/EAP, and the development of critical thinking in the context of AI in the academic arena.

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Following his popular IATEFL Webinar in August, we took the opportunity to interview Burak Aydın further into the subject of his webinar and also his personal work. IATEFL members can view the recording of his webinar, “Reflective Practice Groups: a visionary journey of professional development”, in the Resources section of the IATEFL website.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your work?

My name is Burak Aydın. I am based in İzmir, Turkey and work as an instructor of English as a part of the preparatory English program at İzmir Katip Çelebi University. What we do is basically to provide new university students with the necessary language skills for their future academic, social and professional lives through an intensive, one-year-long program. I also work as a teacher trainer, licensed by World Learning, to deliver intensive and extensive SIT TESOL certificate courses. Apart from the course, as a trainer, I also like running projects and delivering various courses and talks for language teachers. I enjoy training teachers as much as teaching students.

Could you explain the role of Reflective Practice Groups (RPGs) in ELT?

In basic terms, RPGs are regular teacher meetings to practice reflective teaching and collaborative learning. I believe RPGs play a huge role in language teachers’ professional growth as a lot of them are completely busy teaching with scarce opportunities to catch up with quality trainings or to reflect on their teaching. By bringing like-minded teachers together regularly and rigorously, RPGs actually help teachers learn from each other through socialization and reflective cycle. Given the shortcomings of one-time PD events in terms of deep insights and proactivity in trying new teaching strategies, RPGs offer a long-lasting effect for better student learning and wellbeing for teachers with its process-oriented, collaborative, reflective and teacher-centred nature.

How do RPGs differ from other teacher gatherings?

I always like discussing this. For one, RPGs are not regular school meetings. Generally, school meetings revolve around concerns about classroom issues in an effort to find quick solutions, which is surely necessary to eliminate the bumps on the road. However, RPGs are all about enhancing students’ learning with the participation of a few teachers dedicated to try new techniques in class. To that end, RPG teachers bring specific data to the table in forms
of journals, recordings, resources, surveys and observational reflections. They continuously reflect on data to create practical ideas to be taken to their future classes. They try them and bring their reflections back to the table for the next meeting. So, there is no “fix-it” approach as in school meetings but rather a process to explore new strategies.

Also, differently from other teacher gatherings, there are ground rules in RPGs set by teachers such as trust, confidentiality, equality, punctuality and so forth. These meetings are facilitated rotationally by the teachers who assume total responsibility for their collaborative learning. Finally, RPGs are not in-service training programs where learning is assessed and guided by pre-planned agendas. RPGs are totally bottom-up where topics and reflections come as emerged through the series of gatherings. In short, RPGs are different from other meetings as RPG teachers hold connected meetings, come together to grow professionally and co-build their agendas. These meetings are developmental, therapeutic and action-oriented.

Is there any limitation for RPGs in enhancing collaborative professional development?

Surely, the first one is “time”. In many studies, including the one I conducted, teachers tend to raise concerns about the challenge of finding the amount of time necessary for the endeavour. To be able to break the ice, get used to the reflective system and start to grow insights, you certainly need some time for RPGs. I see it no fewer than 10 meetings based on my experience and studies I have read. Given that a meeting generally lasts no less than 2 hours, I hear the teachers’ concerns on this one.

Also, another difficulty might be to find like-minded teachers who are open to growth and a leading coach who is capable of initiating and guiding RPGs. These groups are very special, and teachers should have a good history with each other. And, to start an RPG, you certainly need a reflective teacher or trainer who knows how to guide a group through reflective practice by preventing talks going off the track and eliminating distractions on the way. The
rotational facilitation of teachers is actually guided by how strongly the leading coach sets the tone in the very beginning.

I know that you have conducted a research on RPGs. Could you tell us about that?

Yes. It was a part of my MA dissertation, and I conducted it as an instrumental case study with five language instructors. The aim of the study was to see how teachers got engaged in RPGs and the value of the construct in terms of teachers’ professional development. I was the leading coach, and I invited the teachers to the activity. Our RPG ran for 10 meetings, and I was actively involved in the first 2 to help teachers get familiar with reflective practice,
data collection tools and the dos and don’ts of RPGs. After me, from the 3 rd meeting onwards, teachers started to facilitate the discussions rotationally and preferred to talk about motivation, use of L1 and time management. They used surveys, audio recordings, journals and research to bring data for their discussions. In this process, I only collected data and guided them when needed. Based on the results of the study, I found that teachers benefited a lot from the practice in terms of exploring their self, teaching, students and the group itself. There were certain elements leading to these explorations such as “affect” as the driving force, along with “collectivity” and “action-orientation” in interplay. We truly enjoyed being a part of that group. After the study, a couple of teachers from the group consulted me to start their own groups. It was very exciting. I am also involved in online RPGs ever since. That’s a gift that keeps on giving.

About Burak Aydın

Burak Aydın is an instructor of English and a licensed teacher trainer for SIT TESOL Certificate Course. He teaches in a tertiary level preparatory English program and is also involved in mentoring and supervising language teachers. In the field of teacher training, he has been conducting research, facilitating courses and presenting talks and workshops.

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Imagine you teach a class of seven-year-olds. You provide lots of fun activities: songs, stories, crafts and games. The children appear to enjoy your lessons, but whenever you ask them to do some writing, they become quickly frustrated and bored. Picture these same children a few years on, now aged thirteen. Their lessons are no longer filled with fun and games. They have a fantastic command of vocabulary and grammar but they really struggle with speaking. They’re shy, easily embarrassed and find the topic in their course book dull. This often results in a few of the learners becoming distracted and off-task. You struggle to keep them engaged and find ways of making your lessons interesting.

Achieving and maintaining high levels of engagement is one of the challenges many teachers face in the young learner classroom. We try to stay up to date with the interests of our primary and teenage learners but, of course, they change really quickly. And, of course, our learners can see right through our attempts to reach them through trending topics.

The good news is, there is a solution. We can flip the way we teach on its head by embracing a learner-centred approach. No more spending hours searching the web for relevant topics and resources! No more groans when you hand out your latest worksheet!

How?

With inquiry-based learning. Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is an approach where learners investigate a real world topic in order to find answers to a question. Instead of deciding what learners will learn and selecting materials in advance, we can allow learners to explore their own questions about the topic and take their learning in whatever direction they choose. 

An inquiry is centred around the natural curiosity that children have but tend to lose as they grow older. By focussing our lessons on topics that interest our learners and inviting them to explore them through English, we can ensure that the language we teach is relevant to their interests and needs.

How does inquiry-based learning work?

An inquiry revolves around an essential question. This is an overarching question that we will keep coming back to throughout the inquiry and which learners will aim to have answered by the end of the unit. This is typically a fairly broad question which can be explored and answered in multiple ways. An example question for primary and secondary learners could be:

What makes the perfect home?

With our primary learners, we may want to focus on the more obvious elements of homes including parts of the house and furniture. But with older learners, a more suitable focus could be sustainability in the home or the technology of smart homes.

In order to answer the essential question, we need to break it down into smaller sub-topics that learners can explore. These can be based on the learners’ own questions. Before we start the inquiry, it can be helpful to determine what questions will help learners develop their inquiry and what language they will need, in terms of vocabulary and grammar structures.

We can design research activities that help learners answer their questions and practise the target language. We can provide learners with plenty of resources including books, videos and websites. Once learners have enough information and ideas, they then collate this and produce a piece of work that helps them share their answers to the essential question. This could be a presentation, a poster, a video and much more.  

What are the benefits of inquiry-based learning?

It’s relevant and based on learner needs
The language we teach learners is the language they need to carry out their inquiry, so we’re creating a real need and purpose for it. We can see where the gaps are in their knowledge and focus on emergent language that will help learners find out what they want to know.

It’s tailored to learner interests
You can choose inquiry topics that interest learners and invite them to ask questions about what they want to know. They help shape the inquiry with their questions and they are motivated to find the answers. 

It’s collaborative and fosters future skills
Learners work in groups and develop communicative and social skills, as well as teamwork. They also develop critical thinking skills, presentation skills and digital literacy.

It’s autonomous and self-directed
Learners have agency and autonomy. They get to make choices and decisions and direct their own learning, which is a key aspect of engagement. Because learners will be working independently in different stages, this allows you to provide support to those who need it.

It’s inclusive
You can adapt the level of inquiry that different learners and groups do and therefore provide a more flexible way of differentiating. Each group can work on a subtopic or question that is suitable for their level and skills. This flexibility allows you to adapt the complexity of the language and content of the inquiry to ensure it meets the needs of each learner.

Let’s go back to the imaginary classroom from the beginning of this article but now imagine you’re following an inquiry-based approach. The seven-year-olds are happily working on a poster about the perfect home. They’re writing descriptions of each part of the house and drawing pictures to illustrate them. Every day they’re excited to get started on their work. Fast forward six years and now this class is a confident group of learners who work well together and speak English (most of the time!) as they plan what to do in their project. One group wants to find out about how to build a treehouse and another group plans to design a sustainable home using Minecraft™. 

Inquiry-based learning and other learner-centred approaches are the way forward. At the heart are the learners themselves. Inquiry-based learning appeals to children’s inquisitive nature and allows them to learn and use English in real and meaningful ways. 

To find out more about inquiry-based learning, visit Michelle’s website: https://michelleworgan.com 

IATEFL members can access the recording of Michelle’s webinar (and all other webinars) by logging on to the IATEFL website and then clicking here: https://www.www.iatefl.org/resources/inquiry-based-learning-primary-classroom

About Michelle Worgan

Michelle Worgan is a primary materials writer and trainer based in Spain. She works with several international publishers and she also develops and runs her own teacher training courses and resources in inclusive approaches. She is currently Joint Events Coordinator for the IATEFL Young Learners and Teenagers SIG.

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If you are a member of IATEFL and would like to contribute to the blog, we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. We’re looking for stories from our members, news about projects you’ve been involved in, and anything else you think those connected to English language teaching would be interested in reading. We look forward to hearing from you! If you’re not a member, why not join us?

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